General 1

Data Files Folder (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 1)

The Data Files Folder frame displays the path to the folder where the Daily and Intraday data files, Market Depth data files, Chartbook, and Study Collection files are stored/located.

To change this folder, press Select. Select a folder in the Browse for Folder window and press OK. Or enter the path to the folder into the text box.

The default folder is the Data folder under the folder where Sierra Chart was installed.

If you make changes, then you need to use your operating system file manager and move files from the old folder to the new folder or you will not have access to those files.

If you are connected to the data feed, then Intraday data will still be written to the files in old folder until the next time you reconnect to data feed. If you change the data files folder, then you should restart Sierra Chart to ensure data will be written to the new folder.

Changing the Data Files Folder

Press the Select button in the Data Files Folder box. Change the Folder to what you require. The Browse for Folder window gives you the ability to also create a new folder to select. This folder can be located on any storage device, but it should be a storage device which has fast access.

Press OK.

Press OK to close the General Settings window.

Select File >> Exit to exit from Sierra Chart.

Move the files in the old Data Files Folder to the new Data Files Folder through your operating system file manager.

When the Always Use 'Data' Folder within Main Folder option is enabled, then the Data Files Folder will always be set to the Data folder that is located within the folder that Sierra Chart is installed to.

When this option is enabled and Sierra Chart is relocated to another folder or drive, the path to the Data Files Folder will be changed to be the Data folder within the main folder Sierra Chart is currently located at.

Chartbook and MDI (Multiple Document Interface) window Tabs allow you to easily see all of your Chartbooks and visible Chart and Spreadsheet Windows, and easily select among them by left clicking on a tab with your Pointer.

Double-clicking with your Pointer on a MDI tab, will maximize or restore the chart or Spreadsheet window associated with that tab.

To access the Tabs settings, select Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 1 from the menu.

Tabs >> Show Chartbooks Tabs: When this option is enabled, tabs along the top or bottom of the main Sierra Chart window will display all of the the open Chartbooks.

Tabs >> Place Chartbooks Tabs At: This option sets the position of the Chartbooks Tabs.

Tabs >> Show MDI Window Tabs: When this option is enabled, tabs along the top or bottom of the main Sierra Chart window will display all the open chart and Spreadsheet windows that are within the main Sierra Chart window. MDI = Multiple Document Interface. The Spreadsheet windows, will always be on the right side of the MDI tabs bar.

Tabs >> Place MDI Tabs At: This option sets the position of the chart and Spreadsheet Tabs.

Reordering the Chart Tabs

To reorder the Chart tabs through the Windows and Chartbooks window, select Window >> Windows and Chartbooks. Use the Move Up and Move Down to change the order of the windows, which affects the order of the tabs for the windows.

To reorder the Chart tabs by dragging, simply click and drag a tab to its new location. See image for further clarification.

The Spreadsheet windows, will always be on the right side of the MDI tabs bar. It is not possible to reorder those Spreadsheet tabs. It is not possible to move Chart window tabs between Spreadsheet window tabs or after them.

The Chart Update Interval sets how often the chart graphics are updated and studies are calculated when connected to the Data/Trade server. When market data, Trade Order data or Trade Position data is received, it will be displayed within this time interval.

If there is no new market, Trade Order or Position data, then the chart will not be updated.

Enter the value in milliseconds. Using a higher value will reduce CPU usage. However, the chart will update slower. Using a lower value will increase CPU usage. However, the chart will update faster. This setting does not affect the speed at which data is stored, it is stored tick by tick without any gaps. All trades received are displayed.

The Chart Update Interval provides for very efficient use of the CPU, and prevents lags. Using a very short update interval may require a fast CPU.

Using too short of an update interval, like 50 milliseconds or less on a large number of charts, may have the effect of causing a lag of data received because the load that Sierra Chart will present to the CPU may be too high preventing network data from being process timely.

You will know if the Chart Update Interval setting is too fast if the CPU usage of Sierra Chart, as reported in the system Task Manager, is near to the limit of a single core. For example, if your system has 8 cores, the maximum core percentage will be 12.5 percent as reported in the Task Manager. If you see the Sierra Chart process at the maximum or higher percentage for a single core, then it is presenting the maximum load to the CPU. Although Sierra Chart does use multiple threads, so you can see at certain times, a percentage which is higher than what a single core will use. Most of the time this will not be the case though.

If you encounter any problems with a short Chart Update Interval, increase it. Do not contact support about issues arising from too short of a Chart Update Interval.

At each Chart update, in the case of an Intraday chart, Sierra Chart will read the latest data from the Intraday chart data file and perform other functions even if there is not any new market data to read. Therefore, using too short of a Chart Update Interval, does increase the CPU load.

Each individual chart can also override the global Chart Update Interval and use its own chart update interval. So this gives you the ability to set some charts to a faster or slower speed than the global setting. Refer to Chart Update Interval in the Chart Settings documentation.

While Sierra Chart is a fast and responsive program, it was not designed with high-frequency trading in mind where one would require response times in the microsecond range or very low millisecond range. The Chart Update Interval can be reduced as low as 10 milliseconds. However, if you require study calculations to be done at intervals faster than that and have reaction times from an automated trading system to be less than that, and in the microsecond range, then instead you would need to develop your trading system external to Sierra Chart and communicate with Sierra Chart using the DTC Protocol Server.

Files to Open On Startup (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General Settings 1)

To access the Files to Open on Startup settings, select Global Settings >> General Settings.

These settings allow you to create a list of files to automatically open when you start Sierra Chart. These files can include Chartbook files and Spreadsheet files (.scss file extension). These are the only files you can automatically open.

Press the Add button to add a file to the list. The Open File window will display. Select the file you want to add and press the Open button.

To change an existing file in the list, select the file you want to change in the list and press the Change button.

To remove a file, select the file you wish to remove and press the Remove button.

You can change the order of the files to control the order in which they are opened, by using the Up Arrow and the Down Arrow buttons.

For information about chartbooks, refer to the Chartbooks documentation page.

If the first file to open is a Spreadsheet in the list, then a new Chartbook will be created when that Spreadsheet is automatically opened because a Chartbook is required to exist when opening a Spreadsheet file. Therefore, it is recommended to put the Spreadsheet files at the end of the list of Files to Open on Startup to avoid this.

The files will not automatically open if the Enabled option is unchecked or if Sierra Chart is running in Safe Mode. Refer to the information below about this.

Files to Open On Startup >> Enabled (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General Settings 1)

When the Enabled option is enabled, then the files in the Files to Open on Startup list will automatically be opened when Sierra Chart is started. When this option is disabled, this will not occur.

However, the files listed in Files to Open on Startup will not be automatically opened when Sierra Chart is started if the Safe Mode option on the Sierra Chart Login window is enabled. Uncheck Safe Mode to allow the files to automatically be opened when the Enabled option is enabled. For instructions, refer to Software Login Instructions.

Temporarily Preventing Automatic Opening of Files on Startup

To prevent the automatic opening of files, Chartbooks and Spreadsheets, in the list of Files to Open on Startup in Global Settings >> General Settings, when Sierra Chart is started, then disable the Files to Open on Startup >> Enabled option on the General Settings window.

Alternatively, when Sierra Chart is started, on the Login window enable the Safe Mode option. This will prevent Chartbooks from automatically being opened. For detailed instructions, refer to Using Safe Mode.

Accept Server-Side Set Startup Files

For some Sierra Chart accounts, usually ones provided through a Sierra Chart reseller, files may be automatically added to the Files to Open On Startup list. This happens when logging into Sierra Chart.

To prevent the files from being added to this list, disable Accept Server-Side Set Startup Files.

Instances to Open on Startup (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 1)

After you have manually started new instances with that command, to automatically start those instances when Sierra Chart is started, enter the instance numbers in the Instances to Open on Startup edit box. This is a comma separated list of instance numbers. Example: 2, 3.

Use Default Study Collection for New Charts (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 1)

When this option is enabled, then the selected Study Collection file will automatically be applied to new charts that you open. Choose the Study Collection that you wish to automatically apply to new charts, from the list box below the Use Default Study Collection for New Charts option. Refer to Study Collections for more information.

Scroll Multiplier (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 2)

The Scroll Multiplier setting sets the speed of scrolling in charts. When it is set to 1.0 and you click on the chart Scrollbar arrows or press the left and right arrows on your keyboard, the chart will scroll by 1 bar/column.

Also, with this same setting when you you scroll the chart page-by-page by clicking within the Scrollbar area (not on the Scrollbar arrows or scroll box), the chart will scroll by one full window of bars/columns.

When this setting is set to 0.5, then the scrolling amount with any of the scrolling methods becomes reduced by half. When this setting is set to 2, then the scrolling amount with any of the scrolling methods, is doubled. Use a higher value for increased scrolling speed.

When the Scroll Multiplier is set to 1 and Sierra Chart scrolls by more than 1 bar/column when using a scroll wheel, then the issue has to do with the scroll wheel implementation on your computer system and Sierra Chart has no control over that.

Custom Title Bar Name (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 2)

This setting allows you to set text which is displayed on the title bar of the main program window. When there is text set, the name of the Data or Trading service will no longer be displayed on the title bar.

There are three options available for your pointing device scroll wheel. The scroll wheel can be used to control the chart horizontal position and also the spacing between the chart bars. The options are as follows:

When this option is enabled, then when data is being downloaded and also loaded from local disk files for a Continuous Futures Contract chart, detailed logging will be added to the Message Log window indicating relevant detailed messages.

Normally this option should be disabled. Do not enable it unless you need to see the detailed messages because a lot of messages will be added to the Message Log.

When this option is enabled, then when scanning through symbols in a chart, historical data will be downloaded for the chart if it has not already been downloaded and real-time data updates will be started for the symbol.

When this option is enabled, then the values for study Inputs will not be displayed after the study Name on the Region Data Line at the top of the Chart Region where the study is located. And the values of study Inputs will not be displayed in the Chart Values windows. This is a global option and overrides the study Input display option you have on the studies themselves.

When this option is enabled and you exit from Sierra Chart, a Save All window will display allowing you to save all of your Chartbooks and your Spreadsheets. If this option is disabled, this window will not be displayed on exit.

Effectively this option to display the Save All question functions as a prompt to confirm exiting from Sierra Chart since it will always display when enabled.

Display Fractions in Short Format (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 2)

When this option is enabled, then the Window >> Message Log lines are automatically saved to a file.

The Message Log files are saved in the Logs subfolder in the folder that Sierra Chart is installed to on your system. The default location for the logs folder is: C:\SierraChart\Logs. This folder will be different if Sierra Chart is installed into a different folder on your system. To determine the location where Sierra Chart is installed on your system, open the Message Log with Window >> Message Log.

If the Message Log does not display, select Window >> Reset Windows. And try opening the Message Log again.

Near the top, you will see a line like this: Program path: C:\SierraChart\.

The filename format is: Message Log YYYY-MM-DD HHMMSS.log.

A new message log file is created every 24 hours at the time a new message is added.

When this option is enabled, the Alerts Log window will open when this message is added. Otherwise, it will not automatically open. To manually open the Alerts Log, select Window >> Alerts Manager >> Alerts Log on the menu.

If the Alerts Log opens even when this option is disabled, then this would indicate the message is being added by an Advanced Custom Study, which is causing the Alerts Log to always open. The custom study itself will need to be modified to prevent this.

The download status for a symbol can be shown on the chart. This lets you instantly and clearly know what the current download status is. The chart will not update in real time until the historical data has been downloaded for it. When this option is enabled, you will see the download status on the chart. Therefore it is advised that you always keep this option enabled so you can clearly see the download status. It is not recommended you disable this option.

When this option is enabled, then you are allowed to enter a symbol directly from the chart window by simply typing the symbol into the chart window and pressing the ENTER key on the keyboard, to change the symbol of the chart to the manually typed symbol. For more information, refer to the Changing the Symbol of the Chart page.

Print only in Black and White (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 2)

When this option is enabled, and you print a chart with File >> Print on the menu, then the chart is printed in black only. The background remains the color of the printer paper, or if you are printing to an electronic document it will be white.

Display Chart Timeframe On Tabs When Title Bar Name Is Set To Be Used On Chart Tab (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 2)

In Chart >> Chart Settings, if you have set a Title Bar Name and you have enabled Use Title Bar Name As Tab Label, then the chart bars period is no longer displayed on the MDI tab for the chart. When you enable this option, then the chart bars period will be displayed on the MDI chart tab even in this case.

Use Icons for Control Bar Buttons (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 2)

When this option is enabled, icons which are available for certain Control Bar buttons will be used instead of text. Not all Control Bar buttons will have an icon available. When this option is changed, a restart of Sierra Chart is required for the setting to go into effect.

When the Right Side Fill Space is unlocked, and the Allow New Data in Unlocked Fill Space option is enabled, then as new bars are added to the chart as a chart is being updated in real time or during the replay, these bars will be added into the fill space.

If this option is unchecked and new bars are added to the chart, then the Right Side Fill Space will be preserved.

When this option is enabled, then the thickness of the chart bars changed with Chart >> Decrease/Increase Bar Width is reset, the spacing between the chart bars is reset, and the chart scale is reset, when the symbol of the chart is changed.

When this option is enabled, then the thickness of the chart bars changed with Chart >> Decrease/Increase Bar Width is reset, the spacing between the chart bars is reset, and the chart scale is reset, when the timeframe / bar period of the chart bars is changed.

Auto-Save Chartbooks Time in Minutes (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 2)

When sharing data between copies of Sierra Chart, it is possible to share the bar data in charts and other categories of market data. The following are the categories of data used in charts and explanations of when this data is shared across copies of Sierra Chart based upon the Use Non-Chart Data from Remote Instances setting.

Chart Bar Data: This is the data which is from chart data files (.scid and .dly files) and creates the bars in a chart. When opening a chart through the Find Symbol window using data from a remote copy/instance of Sierra Chart, this is the main data which is shared across copies of Sierra Chart. Therefore, this data is always shared regardless of how Use Non-Chart Data from Remote Instances is set.

Current Daily Quote Data: This data is the current daily quote data which includes data like the Daily High, Low, Volume and Last Trade price. This data is used for the Last Trade price box on the right side Values Scale, is used to update the last bar in a Historical Daily data chart, and for the values displayed in the Window >> Current Quote Window . This data is only shared across copies of Sierra Chart when Use Non-Chart Data from Remote Instances is set. Otherwise, this data originates from the connected data feed in the copy of Sierra Chart where the chart is open.

Market Depth Data: This data includes market depth data for as many levels as is provided by the Data or Trading service being used. This data is only shared across copies of Sierra Chart when Use Non-Chart Data from Remote Instances is set. Otherwise, this data originates from the connected data feed in the copy of Sierra Chart where the chart is open.

Bid Ask Quote Data: This data includes the best bid and ask prices and volumes. This data is only shared across copies of Sierra Chart when Use Non-Chart Data from Remote Instances is set. Otherwise, this data originates from the connected data feed in the copy of Sierra Chart where the chart is open.

Time and Sales Data: This data includes the Time and Sales data and is used in Time and Sales windows for charts. This data is only shared across copies of Sierra Chart when Use Non-Chart Data from Remote Instances is set. Otherwise, this data originates from the connected data feed in the copy of Sierra Chart where the chart is open.

When Use Non-Chart Data from Remote Instances is enabled, simulated orders and trailing stop orders submitted from a chart opened from a remote copy of Sierra Chart, will be filled and modified using the real-time data from the remote copy of Sierra Chart the chart was opened from. Therefore, for the simulated orders to be filled and the trailing stop orders to be modified, it is necessary that the remote copy of Sierra Chart is connected to its data feed. It is the time and sales data from the remote copy which is used for the order filling and order modifications.

When Use Non-Chart Data from Remote Instances is disabled, simulated orders and trailing stop orders submitted from a chart opened from a remote copy of Sierra Chart, will be filled and modified using the real-time data from the copy of Sierra Chart they were submitted from. Not the remote copy. Therefore, for the simulated orders to be filled and the trailing stop orders to be modified, it is necessary that the copy of Sierra Chart the orders were submitted from, be connected to its real-time data feed ( File >> Connect to Data Feed).

Use Controlled Order Chart Updating (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 2)

By default this option is disabled and under typical use this should be disabled. When this option is enabled, then studies which reference data in other charts are used to determine the order of calculating charts. Charts which depend upon other charts are calculated last in the order of calculations. For example, if there are charts 1, 2 and 3 and chart 1 depends upon charts 2 and 3 in its calculations because it makes a reference to those charts, then charts 2 and 3 will be calculated first and then chart 1 will be calculated last.

One potential effect of using this option, but not necessarily, is that if you have many charts open in a Chartbook and it takes a significant amount of time to calculate those charts, then you will notice that the user interface of Sierra Chart will momentarily be busy while the calculations are occurring.

When this option is enabled, then the CW (Child Window) menu which lists Chart and Spreadsheet windows, will be sorted according to the Chart Number rather than alphabetically. In this case any open Spreadsheet windows will be listed at the end.

Configuring Alert Number Instructions

To set up the specific alert sound file to be played and also set up an e-mail alert for a particular Alert Number follow these steps:

Select Global Settings >> General Settings.

Select the Alerts tab.

In the Alerts Settings frame select an Alert Number in the Alert #'s drop down list. All of the settings except for the E-mail Address in the Alert Settings frame apply to the currently selected Alert Number.

The settings for each Alert Number set in the General Settings >> Alerts tab, correspond to the Alert Sound >> Alert Number set on a study or on a chart, and the Alert Number in Global Settings >> General Trade Settings for order related alerts.

Press the Select Sound File button to choose the wav sound file to play. The sound file can be located in any folder.

In the Number of Times to Play This Alert box, specify the number of times to play the sound file associated with the selected Alert Number. This can be set to 0 to not play the sound file if you just want a text message only.

You have the ability to rename the selected Alert Number by entering a more descriptive name in the User Defined Name box. Wherever you normally would see the particular Alert Number listed in Sierra Chart, instead you will see your user-defined name.

Enable the Send E-Mail When This Alert Is Triggered option if you want an e-mail message or Twitter message sent when the selected Alert Number is triggered. Enter your e-mail address or Twitter username in the E-Mail Address or Twitter username box. For further details about this, refer to E-mail Notifications for Alerts.

Enable the Send SMS When This Alert Is Triggered option if you want to send an SMS message to a mobile device when the selected Alert Number is triggered. For complete details, refer to SMS Notifications for Alerts.

Repeat steps 3 through 8 above to set the settings for each Alert # you are using.

Press OK.

User Defined Name

You have the ability to rename a particular Alert Number by entering a more descriptive name in the User Defined Name box. Wherever you normally would see the particular Alert Number listed in Sierra Chart, instead you will see your user-defined name.

Alerts During Back Testing

During back testing, Alert sounds and Alert email messages are suppressed. Only Alert Messages added to the Alerts Log are allowed. At the end of the Alert Message in the Alerts Log you will see the following text: "No alert sound/email".

In the Number Of Times This Alert Sounds box for the selected Alert Number, enter the number of times you want to have the wav file played when the Alert Number is triggered.

In the case of a trade order alert, when using sub instances of Sierra Chart, if the same trade order alert is configured in the sub instance, then it will be played there as well since order related messages are sent through to sub instances. This is something to keep in mind when you hear an alert play more than once even though Number Of Times This Alert Sounds is set to 1. You may want to set the sub instances to not use order alerts as a solution.

Press the Enable/Disable Text To Speech Alert Generation >> Enable button if text-to-speech generation is not currently enabled for your account. Take note of the current price for each text-to-speech alert phrase generated.

On the Text to Speech Generator webpage you have the ability to change the voice for the text-to-speech generation. You will also see all of the Generated Alerts listed on the webpage for your account. You can Delete or Download any of them.

Go back to Sierra Chart.

Select Global Settings >> General Settings.

Select the Alerts tab

Enter a phrase in the Text-To-Speech Wav File Creation box.

Press the Create button to generate the speech sound file. This will take a moment and the result is logged in the Window >> Message Log.

Select the Alert Number (#) from the list box at the top you want to assign generated speech sound file to.

Press the Select Sound File button and select the sound file that has the filename of the phrase you generated a speech sound file for.

Whenever the particular Alert Number is triggered, the phrase you entered will be spoken.

E-mail Notifications for Alerts

To get an e-mail notification or Twitter message when an alert is triggered, then enable the Send E-mail When This Alert is Triggered option for the selected Alert # on the Global Settings >> General Settings >> Alerts tab.

Optionally enter your e-mail address in the E-Mail Address box. If you leave this box blank, the e-mail address for your Sierra Chart account will be used instead. If you wish to receive e-mail notifications for alerts to multiple e-mail addresses, then in the E-Mail Address box enter the e-mail addresses separated by either a "," or a ";".

If you enter a Twitter Username, then you also need to perform additional set up for your Twitter account. Go to the Twitter Control Panel.

In order to prevent remote mail servers from blacklisting the Sierra Chart web server which is sending the emails, there are limits placed on the number of emails sent over a period of time. The current rules are: 20 emails per minute. 200 emails per hour. 500 emails per day. These restrictions do not apply to Twitter usernames. Although Twitter does have their own restrictions.

What to Do if You Do Not Get an E-Mail Alert Message

The very first step is to make certain the Alert Condition formula or other event that causes an alert sound or message to be generated, is actually working. In all cases you will get a message in the Window >> Alerts Manager >> Alerts Log.

Therefore, the first step is to look in the Alerts Log and see if the Alert Condition formula or the particular event, is adding a message there. If not, then you need to check the Alert Condition formula or other settings that cause an alert to see if they are all correct. If you are seeing the message in the Alerts Log, then try a different e-mail address.

You will also see a line in the Alerts Log containing the text Alert email sent indicating the email has been sent. If there was an error sending an e-mail, there may also be an error given for this in the Alerts Log. This error message could indicate that the email sending limit per minute, hour, day has been met.

It is possible that your e-mail provider is filtering the message. Another possibility is that your E-mail address has been blocked from receiving Alert Messages from the Sierra Chart server. In the case of the E-mail address being blocked, contact Sierra Chart support about this.

If Sierra Chart is not running it is not possible for E-mail alert messages to be sent since Alert Condition formulas are not being evaluated or other events which cause alerts are not being triggered. An E-mail alert message cannot be sent if you do not have an Internet connection. Another thing to be aware of is that some E-mail providers delay E-mail delivery. Therefore, it is possible you might get delayed E-mail alert messages even when Sierra Chart is running.

SMS Notifications for Alerts

To send an SMS message when a particular Alert Number is triggered, enable the option Send SMS When this Alert is Triggered for the selected Alert Number.

In the SMS Number box, enter the mobile phone number using this format: + [country code] [prefix] [local phone number].

You also need to activate SMS Messages on your Sierra Chart account and there is an associated cost per message for this. Go to the SMS Control Panel to activate the functionality and to accept the cost per message.

Include Alert Name in Alert Email/Pop-up

The Include Alert Name in Alert Email setting applies to each individual Alert Number. It controls whether the Sound File name or the specified User Defined Name is included in generated alert email messages. And also included in the alert pop-up window for Symbol Alerts and Time Alerts (not the Alerts Manager >> Alerts Log).

The format is: | Alert: (alert name).

Include Alert Comment in Alert Email/Pop-up

The Include Alert Comment in Alert Email/Pop-up setting applies to each individual Alert Number. It controls whether the user specified alert comment is included in generated alert email messages and also the alert pop-up window (not the Alerts Manager >> Alerts Log).

Use User Defined Name Only in Alert Message

The Use User Defined Name Only in Alert Message setting applies to each individual Alert Number. When enabled, then the User Defined Name setting for the Alert Number will be used for the alert message text and no other text will be included.

This means that you can use your own custom User Defined Name as the alert message to control the alert message output for a particular Alert Number.

Time Delay Between Sounds

When there are multiple alert sounds to be played because of various events triggering the alert sounds, the alert sounds by default will be played one after another. When one sound stops, the next one will be quickly started in less than a second. If you notice more than a delay than this between sounds, then most likely this is the result of a sound file being longer in time than you expect. You need to shorten your sound files as short as possible. You may be surprised to find out the actual time of them is longer than you realize.

Another solution to this is to uncheck Global Settings >> General Settings >> Alerts >> Wait for Prior Alert Sound to Finish before Playing Next Queued Sound. When this option is unchecked, then as soon as an alert event occurs and there is a sound file to be played for the particular Alert Number set for the event, it will be played immediately.

However, whether it is immediately played or not, is dependent upon the operating system, since the operating system plays the sound file through the supported audio device.

Enable Wait for Prior Alert Sound to Finish before Playing Next Queued Sound to cause each triggered alert sound to play after a prior one that may be playing, has completed. There will be a subsecond delay placed between the queued alert sounds when this option is enabled.

Disable Wait for Prior Alert Sound to Finish before Playing Next Queued Sound to cause each triggered alert sound to immediately play at the time it is triggered.

If you do not see this message, then the problem is that the particular alert event which is triggering the Alert Sound/Message is not occurring to begin with.

If you are using a Simple Alert Condition Formula on a study, then you need to check on the Alert Condition Formula to make sure it is correct and does what you require. On the Alerts tab of the Study Settings window for the study, make sure the Enabled option is enabled in order to be sure an Alert Message will be added to the Alerts Log.

If you have enabled an Alert Condition on a Chart Drawing and it is not triggering when expected, then check the Chart Drawing Alert Settings.

If you are not getting the Alert Message in the Alerts Log, stop here because the particular alert event is not occurring to begin with.

Notice at the end of the alert message, where it says Alert: Alert 1. What this means is that the sound file set for Alert 1 is what will be played. As soon as the Alert message is added to the Alerts Log, the sound file is immediately played at that time. If there is a delay, then this delay is not coming from Sierra Chart.

If after Alert: Alert # in the Alert message, it says | Muted, then this means the alert sounds are muted. To unmute them, remove the checkmark from Global Settings >> Mute All Alert Sounds. In this particular case, stop here.

If at the end of the alert message it says | No alert sound/email, then this means for the particular study alert or chart alert, there is no Alert Sound set. In this case go to the Study Settings window for the study. Refer to Adding/Modifying Studies. Select the Alerts tab. Set the Alert Sound setting to one of the available Alert Numbers(#). In the case of when using the Spreadsheet System/Alert or the Spreadsheet System for Trading studies, the Alert Numbers are set with the Column K-Z Alert Input settings.

Select Global Settings >> General Settings >> Alerts. Make sure the particular Sound File you want played for the particular Alert Number the alert event is using, is set to what you want. If there is no file set, then the default beep sound will be used. For additional information, refer to the Alert Sound Settings section.

If you continue not to hear the alert sound, then check the audio volume setting on your computer.

Another possible reason for not hearing the sound could be that in the Windows Volume Mixer control panel, sounds for the Sierra Chart application have been muted, or the volume is too low.

Therefore, check the Windows Volume Mixer control panel to make sure that the volume is set high enough and sounds for Sierra Chart are not muted.

General 4

Detect Rollover Of Current Futures Contracts Symbols Based On Real Time Volume (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 4)

When this option is enabled, then the daily volume of a futures symbol for a chart is compared to the daily volume of the next contract month. When the volume of the next contract month is higher than the current futures symbol of a chart, then the current symbol is considered expired and a Rollover message will be displayed on the chart.

This feature can only work properly when Sierra Chart is connected to the data feed. To connect to the data feed select File >> Connect to Data Feed.

If the absolute value of the difference between the current date and the rollover date based upon the date rollover rules for the symbol, is more than 4 days, then a volume-based rollover analysis is not performed. In other words if the current date is not within 4 days of the date based rollover date for the symbol, then a volume-based rollover analysis is not performed.

If a symbol is considered expired by a week or more according to the date rollover rules, then a volume-based rollover analysis is not performed. In this case, the standard date based rollover rules will indicate a message on the chart that the symbol is expired.

When the symbol is considered expired based upon the volume being higher in the next contract month, then a Rollover message is displayed on the chart for a half a day. It is necessary to rollover to the next contract month to clear this message. This message will redisplay after reconnecting to the data feed.

When this option is enabled, the chart window tabs in the main Sierra Chart window are color-coded according to the associated color for the Chart Link Number if the chart is set to a nonzero Link Number.

Never Automatically Open Message Log or Trade Service Log (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 4)

When this option is enabled, the Message Log or Trade Service Log windows will not automatically open if they are currently not open, when there is an error message which is considered to require user attention.

It is recommended not to enable this option and Sierra Chart takes no responsibility whatsoever for the consequence of enabling this option. This will be fully your responsibility.

When this option is enabled, then when a chart window is hidden because the Chartbook it is part of, is no longer the visible Chartbook, the chart window will be destroyed. This conserves operating system window related resources and allows more chart windows to be open at the same time.

When this option is not enabled, then when a Chartbook is not visible, and it remains open, the charts are only hidden but not destroyed.

This option must only be changed when Chartbooks are not currently open. Close all Chartbooks first before changing this option. Otherwise, it is possible when switching to a Chartbook which is currently open, that its charts will not appear, but they would still be present within the Chartbook.

The term "destroy" is an operating system term which indicates that the operating system window for the chart is being destroyed when it is hidden. This is simply means that the resources associated with it, are removed. When a chart window is made visible again like when making the Chartbook it is part of, active, then the window is re-created exactly as it was before. There is no loss of information at all.

Bring Detached Windows to Top on Main Window Focus (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 4)

When this option is enabled, and there are detached charts in the visible Chartbook, then when the main window of Sierra Chart is given the focus, then these detached charts are also brought to the top of what is called the Z order and moved above other windows from other programs that they may be under.

When this option is enabled, then the Window >> Alerts Log lines are automatically saved to a file.

The Alerts Log files are saved in the Logs subfolder in the folder that Sierra Chart is installed to on your system. The default location for the logs folder is: C:\SierraChart\Logs.

This folder will be different if Sierra Chart is installed into a different folder on your system. To determine the location where Sierra Chart is installed on your system, open the Message Log with Window >> Message Log.

If the Message Log does not display, select Window >> Reset Windows. And try opening the Message Log again.

Near the top, you will see a line like this: Program path: C:\SierraChart\.

The filename format is: Alert Log YYYY-MM-DD HHMMSS.log.

Additional Days to Add to Rollover Date for Automatic Chart and Quote Board Rollovers (Global Settings >> General Settings >> General 4)

This option sets a number of days by which the automatic rollover of Charts and Quote Board future symbols will be offset from the date-based rollover date for the symbol. For example, if this is set to 3 and the date-based automatic rollover for a symbol is March 31, then the symbol will not rollover until April 3.